TERRIFIC SEAS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 148, 25 June 1935, Page 10

TERRIFIC SEAS

STORM OFF N.S.W. COAST

HELPLESS CROWD SEE YACHT FOUNDER

TWO MEN DROWNED

(From ','The post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, June 20. The New South Wales coast has been battered this week by one of the most remarkable cyclones in recent years. Experienced seamen said that the seas were higher than any they had known for many years. Most of the cyclones which do damage- on the coast are accompanied by heavy rain, but this week's gales, lasting for three days or more, had its centre at sea, and the waves it stirred up reached coastal waters when the land was enjoying bright, although cold, days of winter sunshine. . The damage was not caused by wind, but was confined to the wrecking of small craft and seaside buildings and walls by huge waves. Many launches were wrecked or battered, and five men were drowned when two of these small craft foundered at sea. Small coastal ships could not venture out of ports, and larger oversea vessels, including those crossing the Tasman from New Zealand, were from eight to fortyeight hours late in reaching Sydney. Some of them, including .the Monowai, arrived with porthole windows smashed and other evidence of the sea's severity. The lighthouse-keeper at Norah Head, about twenty miles south of New castle, was the helpless and horrified spectator on Tuesday afternoon of the sinking of the auxiliary yacht Warrani, which contained two men who had failed-to a desperate attempt to reach safety. The tragedy was enacted in full view of residents of the village' of Noraville, who,' powerless to render any assistance, watched for two hours the efforts of the yacht's crew to save their craft and their own lives. ••'■•■''•- DESPERATE FIGHT FOR LIFE. Frank Wilson'; 40; and Norman Cross, 45, of Terrlgal, were the men drowned when the Warrani was wrecked. The Warrani was so smashed up that the largest piece-of wreckage to come ashore before dusk that evening, was less .than 3ft long. The two men disappeared at the moment the yacht foundered, about a quarter of a mile from a wide beach. They had been engaged in' a desperate fight against heavy seas since Monday morning, and the last scene of the drama was played before Noraville residents, who knew lhat: not one of the many fishing and pleasure craft in the vicinity, if launched in an attempt at rescue, could live in the surf that was running. Wilson and .Cross had been towing the -Warrani with their own small motor launch when they left Terrigal for Sydney on Monday morning. It is surmised that the launch broke down in bad weather, and that Wilson and Cross had to scramble to the larger Warrani; for the latter was towing the motor boat'when the two vessels were first sighted. from Norah Head lighthouse early oh Tuesday afternoon. The boats had been blown far northwards from their course, and were actually further north than when they started. The tow-rope parted, and the motor boat-sank a few minutes later. The Warrani struggled • on, dropped a kellick, which held it stationary for a time, and then was hurried to its final disaster. Every person who watched the long struggle praised the seamanship and courage of the two men, who, apparently recognising that there was no port for miles, and that they had no chance of being rescued except by their own efforts, did not even make a sign inviting help from shore. LIGHTHOUSE-KEEPER'S STORY. The lighthouse-keeper at Norah Head (Mr. G. R. Toovey), said: "The yacht had a small jib up when I first saw her. She was towing the motor boat, and she had no steering way. A big sea picked ■up the motor boat and filled her with water, and the tow-rope parted. The other vessel r/>de on top of the Wave. . It was wonderful to see what she did. The next wave got the small boat and turned her over, and that was the end of her. The same sea caught the big yacht too. Terrific seas came over her, almost filling her with water. She stood up to sea after sea, until she got into comparatively calm- water! They seemed to drop their kellick there. She stopped' in one< . position for a fair while. At,last she started to drag her anchor. That was just outside a reef, and she continued until she got inside the first: breaker. I was watching her through the glasses and. a sea picked her up. : I had to wipe the glasses, and'when I put them to my eyes,again, she had disappeared. That sea must have broken her to smithereens. She was a wonderful sea boat. Sea after sea had. struck her mountain high before the extra big, one got her." •